Highland planning blog

We're excited to announce a new initiative called Opt-In, an online panel we created to gather feedback and understand public opinion on a variety of topics impacting the future of cities, such as transportation, parks, economic development and quality-of-life.

We aim to understand public opinion and delve a little deeper on particular topics so we can understand why people feel the way they do. Participating in Opt-In is quick, easy, and confidential. We won't contact you more than four times a year and the results of each survey will be shared on Highland Planning's Facebook page and website.

It’s been a month since we officially launched MetroQuest and we’re pleased to say it has earned an important spot in our engagement toolbox.

What is MetroQuest? MetroQuest®—is an interactive, online engagement tool that brings surveys to the next level. It features numerous interactive screens that give users the chance to give feedback on a variety of topics, and in a variety of different formats.

​Below are a few examples of the different formats:

Visioning. Allows participants to share open-ended ideas about a future vision for any project, whether it’s a street, neighborhood, city, or region.

Priority ranking. Offers a drag and drop feature that lets users rank issues that are central to your planning effort.

Scenario rating. This screen offers an educational element as well as opportunities for feedback. Users can learn more about different scenarios, understand how they match up with priorities, and rate them.

Visual preference. This feature lets users select a preferred image among a group of images. This is a great feature for any project with a design component.

Image rating. Similar to visual preference, but allows users to rate different images relative to each other.

Map marker. Using a Google Map interface, let’s users drag markers to areas of interest or concern and add comments about challenges and opportunities.

Budget allocation. A digital take on a classic technique. Participants can allocate dollars to different categories, which can become an educational tool about budget limitations while collecting feedback on priorities.

Tradeoffs. This screen lets users rank a series of options in relation to each other. Trade-offs are presented in pairs and participants indicate their preferences on a sliding scale.

Want to see for yourself? Check out two of our ongoing Metroquest surveys below:

It’s been 16 months since I joined Highland Planning and the spectrum of projects that I have had the pleasure to work on has enlightened me. I have a 30+ year career in traffic and transportation operations and planning, and my experiences facilitating public outreach activities on a multitude of project types has taught me a lot.

First and foremost, the knowledge that Tanya has shared with our team regarding the techniques and tools for effective public engagement has allowed me to incorporate unique, fun and successful methods with all of my projects. The days of holding a public meeting and hoping someone shows up are gone. We design our engagement processes in response to our stakeholders preferences for locations, times, format, and even the topics for discussion at meetings. The way to tailor public engagement is talk to stakeholders *before* designing a strategy.

I had previous experience working on comprehensive plans, Brownfield Opportunity Area studies, transit and traffic operations studies, and Complete Streets projects. Today, I am applying engagement techniques to a variety of projects. For instance, I am working on two Law Enforcement Shared Services studies with the Center for Government Research (CGR). Although I know nothing about consolidating police agencies, our methodology has helped me solicit the input needed for CGR to complete their analysis. It has been very rewarding, and I have seen firsthand that project outcomes are better when you include the public.

We are a small firm, with just four people (for now), so we work as a team on just about everything. For example, we all contribute to:

Proofreading and quality control

Marketing

Stakeholder database management

Public Meeting preparation

Watering the plants*

Start, Stop, Keep​Last April, we met to discuss our strategic plan and troubleshoot problems. I have been exposed to some new ideas in my entrepreneurs' group, and we experimented with an exercise to help us improve. We call it start/stop/keep. Each person suggested:

One thing we should start doing

One thing we should stop doing

One thing we should keep doing

Outcomes

We've done this exercise three times since April, and the outcomes have been so interesting. In response to a concern about communication, we started using Slack. Now everyone can track conversations in one place by project. We've all agreed to stop coming into the office sick. Some of us may or may not be germaphobes. And besides, with laptops, it's easy to work from home.

Start/stop/keep has been like group therapy for our business. It was hard to be direct and honest at first, but we all felt relieved once we shared what was on our minds. Today we are more apt to speak up right away about issues. It's good.

Rochester should...​I think this method would work well for any strategic discussion - a non-profit management team, a neighborhood organization, a business association, a family, even a city. For example, in my opinion, the City of Rochester should:

Keep investing in riverfront access, so residents and visitors can get closer to the Genesee River, its three waterfalls, and the Erie Canal.

Start communicating regularly with residents, investors, and business owners. I think we should become the first city in the nation to communicate with its citizens by text quarterly. We could send two or three questions to gauge people's opinions about upcoming initiatives and decisions. The mayor and City Council could use this input as they make decisions for the future of the city.

Stop busing children all over the city and reinvest in the neighborhood school model. The money spent on busing could be used for reading, enrichment, or the arts.

* The truth. Andre waters the plants and the rest of us talk about how the plants look sad and wonder out loud if they will die.

One of the more exciting projects we have had the opportunity to work on lately is the Greentopia EcoDistrict. Last month, we held our first public meeting, and it was a great time! The public meeting was held at ER Studio and Lounge, a dance studio and event space on State Street in the EcoDistrict. This unique space really helped show off what the area already has to offer.​The purpose of this first meeting was to get initial input and ideas, so we started off with a presentation from Rachel Walsh, the EcoDistrict Coordinator, before splitting into groups to generate ideas.

Why an EcoDistrict?​​Rachel’s presentation began with a description of some of the issues in cities today. Sixty percent of North America’s population lives in cities, a proportion that is expected to reach three-quarters by 2050. Cities account for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 75% of energy consumption. Our cities also contribute to a vast equity gap: the zip code a child is born into has a bigger role in determining that child’s future than any other single factor. Cities in the US also face a $1 trillion+ infrastructure backlog, comprising everything from ruptured water mains to decaying public buildings, bridges, roads and transit. On top of all this is the growing threat of climate change.

The EcoDistricts Protocol is a response to those issues. The EcoDistricts Protocol is a process-based framework and certification standard that empowers equitable, resilient, sustainable neighborhoods and districts for all. It is designed to support diverse project teams represented by public, private, and non-profit groups. One distinctive of the EcoDistricts Protocol is equity, which isn’t consistently addressed in other district-scale projects, often distorting the benefits and intensifying the negative impacts of investments.

The group then split and went to the three stations. At the first station, attendees were invited to ask questions and learn more. Rachel answered questions and explained the details of the Protocol and the High Falls EcoDistrict. At the second station, ideas for the new EcoDistrict were collected and discussed. André documented the ideas, which ranged from using water power to power streetlights, to bungee jumping from the Pont de Renne. At the third station, attendees shared their vision for the EcoDistrict by finishing the sentence “My vision for the EcoDistrict is…” on a blackboard. Jen took “Vision Portraits” of each peron with their board.

Take Our Survey!

​We are grateful to everyone for attending, and can’t wait to hold our next meeting! If you missed the meeting, you can share your input by taking our survey online. You can also download the meeting notes, which includes all the ideas, here.

Over 800 participants participated in the study by completing our online survey, which was intended to identify commuting patterns, issues and opportunities and whether or not customers thought implementing a vanpool would be a good idea for the region.

The survey was hosted through Survey Monkey, and we rolled it out at the beginning of the project in June 2015. Part of the process was educating the public about what a van pool is, so they could assess whether or not it would be attractive to them, and provide feedback.

We were pretty ecstatic about our response rate. Here’s how we did it:

RGRTA advertised the survey through social media, a press release, and the project web site

We created variations of the survey for a range of employers throughout the region, and emailed them an invitation to participate

RGRTA hosted the survey at the kiosk in the Transit Center

We handed out flyers advertising the survey at incredibly early times at Park and Rides throughout the region, so we could catch commuters on their way into work

We represented the project at area-wide events, such as the Roc Transit Day (pictured below)

The study concluded that a vanpool program linking commuters from similar origins to similar destinations throughout the Rochester area is feasible. The next step is for RGRTA to consider implementing a pilot program.